Splatter: the pull IS the shot — direction aims, length is power

The ball economy made it harder in the wrong way: waiting for a ballboy is
friction, not difficulty, and walking with the finger was one gesture too many
for anyone to discover. Both are out — a spent ball hands you a fresh one
again, and the thumb only ever does the slingshot.

The brake moves into the gesture instead. The pull's LENGTH is now the shot's
power and nothing else: under TUNE.zSplatQ it merely staggers, at full draw
it's quality 1.0 with the PERFECT flash and hitstop. A lazy rhythm of short
pulls can't kill anything, so tempo stops being a strategy.

The pull's DIRECTION is a ray, not a landing point, which is the ergonomic fix
for having to drag off the bottom of the phone: distance to the target no
longer costs drag length. The first shambler standing in the lane eats the
ball, whether it's 5 or 21 metres away, and the cone widens with range so
distant lanes stay pickable. Full power now sits at 95px of travel.

Also gone: the free predictive auto-lock on a directionless aim (zombieTarget
returns null with no direction, and a bare hold no longer fires at all). Melee
goes back to cleaving the cluster — it's the panic button — with the 1s
cooldown left in as the brake. The reticle reads power throughout: cool blue
only staggers, hot red kills, the drawn band grows behind you, and the pull
clicks the moment it crosses the kill threshold.

Verified by simulated touch gestures: 10px cancels, 35px = 0.31 (stagger),
60px = 0.60, 95px = 1.00; the same 60px pull reaches shamblers at 5m, 21m and
diagonally; 22 serves in 30s, so the pace is back.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

render.js

@@ -396,18 +396,24 @@ export function render() {
     if (l) drawRing(l.x, l.z, 'rgba(255,255,255,0.85)');
   }
   if (G.outMarker) drawRing(G.outMarker.x, G.outMarker.z, G.outMarker.out ? '#ff5050' : '#f8e048');
-  if (G.loose) drawRing(ball.x, ball.z, '#f8e048'); // your ball is down there — go and get it
-  // slingshot serve aim: an angry-birds dotted trajectory from the racket to the aim point;
-  // red = the magnet has a zombie locked, yellow = a free spot on the court
+  // slingshot aim: the pull's direction is the lane, its length is POWER. Everything on screen
+  // reads power, because that's the decision — a dim thin line only staggers, a hot fat one kills.
   if (G.aim && G.mode === 'splatter' && !G.interlude && (G.phase === 'pretoss' || G.phase === 'toss' || G.phase === 'rally')) {
     const ft = flickTarget(P, G.aim);
     const tx = ft.zt ? ft.zt.x : ft.tx, tz = ft.zt ? ft.zt.z : ft.tz;
     if (tx !== undefined) {
-      const col = ft.zt ? '#ff5050' : '#f8e048';
+      const kills = ft.q >= TUNE.zSplatQ;
+      // cool blue-white = this pull only staggers. It has to stay READABLE on the dark lawn —
+      // the player still needs to see where they're aiming, they just need to know it's weak.
+      const col = !kills ? '#9db4d0' : ft.zt ? '#ff5050' : '#f8e048';
       const a = proj(P.x, 1.4, P.z), b = proj(tx, 0, tz);
-      ctx.strokeStyle = col; ctx.lineWidth = 2; ctx.setLineDash([3, 5]);
+      // the drawn band: it grows BEHIND you as you pull, so the gesture has a visible cost
+      const bl = proj(P.x - G.aim.fx * ft.f * 3, 1.2, P.z - G.aim.fy * ft.f * 3);
+      ctx.strokeStyle = col; ctx.lineWidth = 1 + ft.f * 2;
+      ctx.beginPath(); ctx.moveTo(a.x, a.y); ctx.lineTo(bl.x, bl.y); ctx.stroke();
+      ctx.setLineDash([3, Math.max(2, 7 - ft.f * 5)]); // dashes tighten up as the shot gets hot
       ctx.beginPath(); ctx.moveTo(a.x, a.y); ctx.lineTo(b.x, b.y); ctx.stroke();
-      ctx.setLineDash([]);
+      ctx.setLineDash([]); ctx.lineWidth = 1;
       drawRing(tx, tz, col);
       if (ft.zt) { const hp = proj(ft.zt.x, 2.2, ft.zt.z); ctx.fillStyle = col; ctx.fillRect(hp.x - 1, hp.y - 4, 3, 3); }
     }
@@ -435,14 +441,14 @@ export function render() {
   zombies.filter(zb => zb.z > COURT.netZ).sort((a, b) => a.z - b.z).forEach(drawZombie);
 
   // server idly bouncing the ball while waiting
-  if (G.phase === 'pretoss' && !(G.mode === 'splatter' && (G.loose || G.fetchT > 0))) { // empty-handed = no ball to bounce
+  if (G.phase === 'pretoss') {
     const sv = score.server === 'P' ? P : O;
     const bx = sv.x - BOUNCE_IDLE.dx * (sv.side === 'P' ? 1 : -1);
     const by = Math.abs(Math.sin(G.idleT * BOUNCE_IDLE.tempo)) * BOUNCE_IDLE.apex;
     drawBall(bx, by, sv.z);
   }
   // the match ball (and any triple-serve side balls in flight)
-  if ((ball.active || G.phase === 'over' || G.loose) && !ball.collected) drawBall(ball.x, ball.y, ball.z, true, ball.bomb, ball.flame);
+  if ((ball.active || G.phase === 'over') && !ball.collected) drawBall(ball.x, ball.y, ball.z, true, ball.bomb, ball.flame);
   for (const e of extras) drawBall(e.x, e.y, e.z);
   // splatter particles (fire embers ride the same array)
   for (const pt of parts) {
@@ -530,10 +536,8 @@ export function render() {
     const touch = IS_TOUCH, switchHint = touch ? 'TAP THE RACK TO SWITCH' : '1-5 TO SWITCH';
     const sel = ['PLAIN', 'BOMB', 'TRIPLE', 'FIRE', 'GUN'][G.weapon];
     const txt = G.mode === 'splatter'
-      ? (G.loose ? 'RUN YOUR BALL DOWN'
-        : G.fetchT > 0 ? 'NEW BALLS PLEASE...'
-        : G.weapon === 4 ? (touch ? 'TAP TO UNLOAD THE GUN' : 'SPACE UNLOADS THE GUN')
-        : G.aim ? 'PULL BACK TO AIM · RELEASE TO FIRE'
+      ? (G.weapon === 4 ? (touch ? 'TAP TO UNLOAD THE GUN' : 'SPACE UNLOADS THE GUN')
+        : G.aim ? 'PULL BACK: FURTHER = HARDER'
         : G.weapon > 0 ? `SERVE FIRES: ${sel} · ${switchHint}`
         : touch ? 'TAP TO SERVE · PULL BACK TO AIM' : 'SPACE SERVES · ARROWS AIM')
       : G.serveNum === 2 ? (touch ? 'SECOND SERVE — TAP' : 'SECOND SERVE — SPACE')